Trends in Cognitive Sciences
Volume 11, Issue 9, September 2007, Pages 387-392
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The amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex in morality and psychopathy

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2007.07.003Get rights and content

Recent work has implicated the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex in morality and, when dysfunctional, psychopathy. This model proposes that the amygdala, through stimulus-reinforcement learning, enables the association of actions that harm others with the aversive reinforcement of the victims’ distress. Consequent information on reinforcement expectancy, fed forward to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, can guide the healthy individual away from moral transgressions. In psychopathy, dysfunction in these structures means that care-based moral reasoning is compromised and the risk that antisocial behavior is used instrumentally to achieve goals is increased.

Introduction

Care-based morality can be considered as those forms of moral reasoning that concern actions that harm others. Other forms of moral cognition might exist but these will not be considered in detail here (Box 1). Why do we care whether anyone else is hurt? Perhaps equally importantly, why do some people, individuals with psychopathy, care less?

Here, I make reference to the functional roles of the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) in the learning and use of reinforcement expectancies (expectancies of reward or punishment). I argue that (i) the integrated functioning of these systems enables the basics of care-based morality; and (ii) dysfunction within these regions in psychopathy means that reinforcement-based decision making, including moral decision making, is impaired.

Moral transgressions (e.g. one person hitting another) are defined by their consequences for the rights and welfare of others. Social conventional transgressions are defined as violations of the behavioral uniformities that structure social interactions within social systems (e.g. dressing in opposite gender clothing). Healthy individuals distinguish conventional and moral transgressions in their judgments from the age of 39 months [1] and across cultures [2]. In particular, moral transgressions are judged to be less rule-contingent than are conventional transgressions; individuals are less likely to state that moral, rather than conventional, transgressions are permissible in the absence of prohibiting rules [3].

Early models of moral socialization suggested unitary accounts of social rule learning, stressing, for example, either punishment [4] or cultural transmission [5]. However, such accounts struggle to explain the existence of the moral–conventional distinction [3]. Moreover, the social consequences of moral and conventional transgressions differ; caregivers are more likely to refer transgressors of moral rules to the consequences of their actions for the victim and transgressors of conventional rules to the rules themselves or the sanctions against prohibition [6].

Early discussions of the development of the moral–conventional distinction itself suggested that it emerged as a function of abstract reasoning processes [3]. They made two clear predictions. First, populations with impaired abstract reasoning should fail to develop the moral–conventional distinction. However, no data have been presented in support of this position. Moreover, at least one population with pronounced executive function impairment, children with autism, pass the moral–conventional distinction [7]. Second, populations who show impairment in the development of the moral–conventional distinction should show impairment in abstract reasoning and/or executive dysfunction. Individuals with psychopathy show significantly less of a moral–conventional distinction than do healthy individuals [8]. However, before considering executive dysfunction in this population, I will briefly consider the nature of psychopathy.

Section snippets

Psychopathy

Psychopathy is a developmental disorder [9] that involves emotional dysfunction, characterized by reduced guilt, empathy and attachment to significant others, and antisocial behavior including impulsivity and poor behavioral control [10]. It is not equivalent to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition (DSM-IV) psychiatric diagnoses of conduct disorder (CD) and antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), which focus only on the presence of antisocial behavior rather

Psychopathy and morality

Individuals with psychopathy show significantly less of a moral–conventional distinction than do healthy individuals [8]. If the moral–conventional distinction emerged as a function of abstract reasoning processes [3], we might believe that individuals with psychopathy will show impairment in abstract reasoning and/or executive dysfunction. However, no data suggest that they do. Indeed, individuals with psychopathy show executive dysfunction only if the executive function has an affective

Dysfunctional neural systems in psychopathy

The neuropsychological literature on psychopathy has identified two core neural regions that seem to be dysfunctional in psychopathy: the amygdala and the vmPFC. Psychopathy is associated with a series of core functional impairments: deficits in aversive conditioning, the augmentation of the startle reflex by visual threat primes and fearful expression recognition. These impairments are also seen following lesions of the amygdala [25]. In addition, psychopathy is associated with problems in

The amygdala, vmPFC and morality

The amygdala and vmPFC are implicated not only in the emergence of psychopathy, but also in moral reasoning. Thus, the amygdale, and particularly the vmPFC, have frequently been identified in neuroimaging studies of moral reasoning 18, 19, 35 (Figure 1). For example, Greene et al.[19] reported increased vmPFC activity in response to personal as opposed to impersonal moral choices, and the difference between these two situations related effectively to the salience of the victim. Similarly, in

The amygdala

The amygdala is crucial for stimulus-reinforcement learning 38, 39. This learning enables representations of conditioned stimuli within temporal cortex to be linked to emotional responses mediated by the amygdala and other structures (Figure 2). In short, the amygdala enables the individual to learn the goodness and badness of objects and actions. Moreover, because the relationship between the amygdala and the temporal cortex is reciprocal [40], this learning enables the amygdala to influence

Conclusions

In summary, the model developed here provides a conceptual framework for understanding the functional contribution of the amygdala and vmPFC to the basis of care-based morality and, when dysfunctional, psychopathy. My main argument is that the amygdala enables the forms of learning necessary to care about the welfare of others, and, together with the vmPFC, enables this information to inform moral decision making. However, many questions remain unanswered. Although the functional response

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health: National Institute of Mental Health.

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